It’s Friday, which means it’s time to open the book nearest you and share the first line.
Today I’m sharing the first line from The Austen Escape by Katharine Reay.
Well, the first two lines, because it’s the second line that really got me hooked!
“How can I help?”
The world stilled. It wasn’t the first time I wondered how one voice, one presence, could quicken the air and simultaneously stop all motion.
Nathan.
Ohh! Doesn’t that make you want to keep reading? And it’s Katherine Reay, who is a great writer, and it has the magic word in the title: Austen. If I think about it, these first few lines are very Austenesque. They foreshadow and summarise the plot in the same way as the opening line of Emma.
Yes, there will be a full review of The Austen Escape soon! (I actually typed ‘swoon’. That fits as well.)
About The Austen Escape
Falling into the past will change their futures forever.
Mary Davies finds safety in her ordered and productive life. Working as an engineer, she genuinely enjoys her job and her colleagues – particularly a certain adorable and intelligent consultant. But something is missing. When Mary’s estranged childhood friend, Isabel Dwyer offers her a two-week stay in a gorgeous manor house in England, she reluctantly agrees in hopes that the holiday will shake up her quiet life in just the right ways.
But Mary gets more than she bargained for when Isabel loses her memory and fully believes she lives in Jane Austen’s Bath. While Isabel rests and delights in the leisure of a Regency lady, attended by the other costume-clad guests, Mary uncovers startling truths about their shared past, who Isabel was, who she seems to be, and the man who now stands between them.
Outings are undertaken, misunderstandings play out, and dancing ensues as this company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation, work out their lives and hearts.
Click below to find The Austen Escape online:
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Now click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:
And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.
I can’t wait to start this one!
Drew Farthering’s latest mystery has been all over my blog this week, so I’ve finished out the week with the first line of ‘Death at Thorburn Hall’ on my blog, but I thought I would pick one of Ronie Kendig’s books to share here in honour of Veteran’s Day. This is the first line from ‘Raptor 6’:
“Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe.”
Death at Thornburn Hall is also on my to-read pile. I love the Drew Fathering mysteries.
Great line from Ronie Kendig. She certainly knows how to get the pulse racing.
Thanks for sharing!
Happy Friday! I’m sharing the first line from A Love Like Ours by Becky Wade on my blog today, but I’ll share the first line from a book near the top of my TBR pile here. “Blizzard-like conditions are expected to last through the evening.” That line is from The Engagement Plot by Krista Phillips.
I am definitely a summer girl – I read The Engagement Plot, and was so thankful that wasn’t me.
And I love Becky Wade’s novels – A Love Like Ours was so good! Thanks for sharing.
“The Sun skimmed the horizon in the eastern sky, bathing the far hillside in a pink morning hue.”
— The Heart of an Agent by: Tracey J. Lyons
This is next on my to-read list! Thanks for sharing.
This book was so good! Made me want to reread all of Jane Austen’s books!
Over at my blog, I’m sharing the first line from Susan Sleeman’s Cold Terror.
I’m currently reading Welcome to Wishing Bridget by Ruth Logan Herne, so I’ll leave that first line here:
Don’t do it.
Don’t do it.
That’s it? You could give us the second line as well? LOL!
Great first line! Thanks for sharing.
My first line (well, really first two lines because they are so good) is from Runaway Romance by Miralee Ferrell:
“Ann Stanway sat in her television producer’s office trying to still the butterflies doing battle in her belly. No, not butterflies, more like buzzards.”
Buzzards in her belly? Love it! I’ll have to check that out – it sounds like fun. Thanks for sharing!
I just downloaded this book on Audible–excited to listen to it! 🙂 Happy Friday!
I hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend!
My first line is from a book I’m going to be reading soon Hope Travels Through by Loni Kemper Moore…..
The first time Dad picked me up at the Evansville airport in his 1976 Corvette, I should have recruited a fairy godmother. Not that I believed in such things.
Have a great weekend!
I love that fairy godmother bit! I think that’s something we can all relate to, and that’s a great way to get the reader engaged. Thanks for visiting!
That sounds wonderful! I’ll have to check that one out.
My first line is from an anthology called Out of the Blue Bouquet. The first story is Sourting Callie by Hallee Bridgeman.
“Callie Vaughn felt the telltale shudder of the car through her seat just as she started to pull through the gate.”
I’ve read and enjoyed several of Hallee Bridgeman’s books, but not that one. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for stopping by!
This book looks quite interesting. I always enjoy a Jane Austen theme.
One of my first lines today is from The Art and Craft of Murder by Cat Parker.
“One of these days, someone’s going to murder that stupid old woman,” Martha Johnstone said to me, as Hilary Short left my teahouse and walked off towards the harbor.
Over on my blog, I’m featuring a Veterans’ theme from Abigail Strom’s Waiting for You.
Great first line! And it sounds like a cozy mystery … which means I see a body coming in the not-to-distant future. Fun!
I love Katherine Reay’s books! Happy Weekend!
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK
SEPTEMBER 1943
Esther’s father halted the lazy swaying of the porch swing. – While We’re Far Apart by Lynn Austin
I will definitely check this book out!
Happy Friday!
I’m showcasing The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck by Bethany Turner on my blog this week. So, here I will share a line from the book I’m currently reading, Deadly Proof by Rachel Dylan. I’m just starting chpt. 15, so that’s the line I’ll share:
“On Monday morning, Kate heard her email ping and saw the message was from the Northern District of Georgia. Her heartbeat sped up as she clicked to open it.”
I’ll be reading The Austen Escape soon! My current read is An Inconvenient Beauty by Kristi Ann Hunter
Eton College, Berkshire, England, 1797
“The line between boy and man was never murkier than when a father died too soon, leaving his son to walk through the foibles of youth while shouldering the responsibilities of adulthood.”